Bored, they banter, skirting the unavoidable topic, it’s getting late. It occurs to Smiles that quickly, even tonight, he should set up an IRL date. It could take place at the foot of an escalator, in a park with chestnut trees, on a bench with no backrest. Fallen leaves, more fallen leaves, a tear, a gateway, dawn, mist, sudden redemption and two shots Unicum, he could do it. He could sweet-talk Bianca away from the 21-inch, full HD Synkmaster. But to where, asks Smiles, where today can one find an earth-smelling gateway? And who could find the courage to stand in one?

Synopsis

Jake Smiles, the hero, lives, kills and loves online.
Jake Smiles is the writer’s name, a pen name, a nickname in net language.1 link is Hungarian literature’s first online novel, which won first prize from both the jury and the audience of the competition held by Magvető Publishing House and Origo Internet News Site in 2001.

Gergely Bánki, the director of the play: "I think that in this artesian-well community, there still isn’t the critical mass for truly interactive things. For the most part, people at home don’t read from the screen, everyone prints like mad. The author goes to readings and dedications. The reader vegetates on the sofa, sometimes turns pages. Meanwhile, trees in rain forests are dying by the thousands. This novel is a snapshot of a cultured, well-off family man who escapes from his everyday apathy into the virtual world and tries to experience reality through it, but then it’s nothing more than a big trip. We’ll emphasize this with a VJ and a DJ. It’ll be a blend of sound effect, concert and theatre, but you only need to buy one ticket for it."

From the reviews

"A truly spirited, thoughtful, and tough-as-nails production of the moment. It speaks very validly about our world, which is gradually being absorbed into the cyber-world." (Csaba Kiss - prae.hu)

"It’s compact, coherent, and addresses the world (mainly the virtual, which weighs down the real one), people, families, solitude, selfishness, love, deception – purely things that exist and can be experienced." (Andrea Stuber - stuberandrea.hu)